The dark inside
by NekoPantera
Summary: BotW. Link has an unfortunate encounter with a unusual monster and it stirs something dark inside of him. He doesn't even notice the lack of Zelda's voice that he often hears, until it's almost too late. What happened to Link? And how will it affect his quest to save Hyrule?
1. Prologue

This idea came to me one day and I decided to write it down for you guys.

This is the prologue and I would love to hear you guys' opinion on this. I already know how I want this story to end, but suggestions are always welcome. ;3

Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Link was in a foul mood. The night before had borne the Blood Moon and it seemed like every monster that he had beaten before was out for his blood.

That wouldn't be so unusual, but the monsters seemed even more aggressive than usual. Link didn't get a breather throughout the entire day, and now that the sun was setting, he was exhausted.

Just as the last light of the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Link found a little cave in the side of a low cliff where he could hide from view.

It was pretty dark in the cave, but he managed to set up camp. The hero hadn't eaten all day because of the continuous onslaught, so he was unsurprisingly ravenous.

He grabbed some wood and a piece of flint, quickly able to start a fire to cook some food.

But, as soon as the fire came life and illuminated the cave, Link felt a shift in the air. And he knew he had made a mistake.

It turns out that the cave wasn't as small as Link thought it would be. What Link had assumed to be the back wall of the cave, was actually just a wall that shielded the rest of the cave.

Link peeked around the corner and cursed his luck.

Not only was there a giant hollow room that he had failed to notice before, it was also filled to the brim with countless number of sleeping Keese.

The little brown bats hung upside down on the ceiling and were waking up from the light from the fire. Their eyes opened and looked at Link as a convenient breakfast.

Link considered his options. He was tired, hungry and in a bad mood, he wasn't in any condition to fight this horde of opponents. Even in top condition, the sheer number of Keese would be very challenging.

So, he took the other option. He turned and ran.

There was a forest, not far from his position. He knew this because he had passed it earlier. If he could make it there, he would have a better chance of escaping the swarm.

The hero jumped out of the cave. It was a small drop, so that didn't hinder him. As soon as his feet touched the group, he sped off.

At the same time a giant black cloud also emerged from the cave. It wasn't truly a cloud, it only looked like one, with all the bats flying together.

Link had seen large groups of Keese before, but never one of this size. He didn't take the time to estimate how many there were, focusing instead on running.

Almost halfway in the direction of the forest, Link glanced over his shoulder and realised that he would never make it there. The swarm was catching up to him, fast. He kept running, but he grabbed a sword at the ready.

Seconds later the swarm caught up and Link prepared for the worst.

As the horde of Keese swarmed him, he blindly swung his sword around, hoping to get as many Keese as he could. However, the Keese didn't attack him back, which confused the blond greatly.

The swarm passed him and then cut of his route, forcing Link to stop running. They then proceeded to trap link in the middle of circle of a wall made out of flying Keese. Link had nowhere to go now.

Link considered attacking, but he didn't want to provoke the bats any more than he already had. The Keese hadn't attacked him yet and he wanted to see what would happen next.

He pulled out a shield and kept on high alert as he waited.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a large shadow passed over the top of the wall of Keese. Link looked up to see what it was and felt his body freeze in place when he laid his eyes upon a creature that he had never seen before.

The circle that Link had been trapped in became slightly bigger to allow this creature to land in front of Link.

This thing in front of him was a Keese that was way to big for his liking. Its size larger than a Bokoblin. And unlike its smaller counterparts, this Keese had two eyes, that were intensely fixed upon Link.

Link shook himself out of his stupor and readied himself for whatever would come next, holding his sword and shield in front of him protectively.

The giant Keese seemed to observe Link as it tilted its head from one side to the other. If Link's life wasn't in danger, he might have found the sight cute.

Then the creature seemed to come to a conclusion and charged, fangs bared, at Link.

'Seems like I have to fight after all.' Thought Link to himself.

Seeing the attack coming, Link jumped and dodged the Keese's first attack and brought his sword down in an arc, hoping to fell the monster in one hit.

But, as he brought down his sword, nothing happened. His attack didn't hit, not only did it not hit, where his sword should have been, there was nothing but air.

When he had brought the sword up to attack, some of the smaller Keese had swooped in to steal the sword from his grasp.

Link turned and glared at the bats who took his weapon away from him, before once again focussing his attention on his larger opponent.

He now only had his shield, which wouldn't do for Link. He made to grab another weapon from his Sheikah Slate, only to discover that it was also taken away from him.

This was bad, Link now had no means of attacking, or healing. All his items were stored in that Slate, without it, he had only the things he had on his person. Which was only his shield right now.

He gritted his teeth and desperately sought for a way out of this mess, with not much luck.

The large Keese prepared itself to launch another attack.

Despite knowing he couldn't win like this, Link raised his shield once more.

'I'm not going down without a fight!' He thought and braced himself.

The monster charged and Link jumped out of the way again, but the Keese had learned from before. It twisted its body and followed Link's movement.

Link was only barely in time to raise his shield to protect himself from being bitten.

The Keese didn't allow Link any time to recover and used one of its wings to knock the shield away from his grasp.

The shield went flying and before it even hit the ground, it was picked up and carried away.

Now Link was completely defenceless, but that didn't stop him from raising his fists. He would fight until his dying breath.

He send a silent apology to Zelda, knowing there was no way out of this. He had been outsmarted by a bunch of bats and would undoubtedly find his demise soon enough. Unless a miracle happened, right now, he was done for. In this moment, he hated himself for letting everyone that counted on him down.

He made eye contact with the leader Keese and glared at it, daring it to attack.

Yet, instead of attacking, like Link would have predicted, the large bat observed him again, its big yellow eyes scanning him from head to toe.

'Why is it doing that? Why not just attack me and kill me?' Link wondered.

The two opponents stared at each other. Not knowing what was going on, it unnerved Link greatly.

The tension rose high until the hero snapped. "Just get it over with already!" He yelled out.

The sudden outburst made the bat flinch. Using this opportunity, Link launched an attack himself. It probably wasn't the smartest move, but Link was determined to fight until he couldn't no more.

The blonde pulled his fist back, and punched the monster as hard as he could. To Link's surprise, it hit and the sheer force that came behind the punch caused the bat to fall on its back.

Link didn't even think when he jumped on top of it and started beating the seemingly disarmed creature.

Filled with rage and slight fear, Link continued his onslaught. Punching the beast over and over. Doing so, he didn't notice when the bat beneath him shifted its body ever so slightly.

The creature took all hits and doesn't seem to be affected much, and when Link threw his next punch, the bat was prepared. It caught Link's arm between its teeth and bit down, hard.

Link screamed in pain and tried to free his arm to no avail. The teeth were bedded deep into his arm.

Knowing that flailing around would only worsen the wound, Link willed himself to stay still.

Then the Keese did something that he would never have guessed, it let go.

Taking this opportunity again, Link jumped of the creature. He pulled his injured arm close to his body and glared angerly at the bat, which was getting on its feet.

The hero expected another attack and dreaded it, but it didn't come.

Instead the Keese just looked at Link for a few seconds, focussing its attention on the wound. Then it raised its head to look up and let out a high pitched screeching sound.

Link flinched as the sound hurt his ears and caused a headache.

The sound stopped and the wall made of the small Keese dispersed. Every bat flew away in different directions. The giant Keese followed soon after, leaving Link standing alone in the field.

To say it was confusing was an understatement. Everything that happened up until now seemed like one giant mess and Link didn't even want to try and figure out what it meant at this moment.

The danger wasn't over yet. Link found himself severely injured, alone in an open field. He currently had nothing on him to do something about it. His Sheikah Slate was taken away from him, without it he had nothing.

He was alone, injured and defenceless in a hostile land at night. Not a good combination.

The adrenaline of the recent encounter was starting to wear off and the events of the entire day were catching up.

Trying not to panic, Link resumed his path towards the forest. At least there he would be able to find some cover and hopefully some items to deal with this situation.

He dragged his feet slowly towards his destination, he tried to go as fast as he could, but he was exhausted.

Not even halfway and his vision started to blurry. He tried to shake it off and keep going, not wanting to give up here. But his body and his mind didn't cooperate. As he took another step, he collapsed onto the ground.

Pain shot through his arm, reminding him that the wound was still bleeding quite heavily.

If he wanted a chance at surviving, he had to keep moving. He would be done for if he blacked out now. In the middle of the night, it wouldn't be long before any monster would find him and make him its next meal.

He put his weight to the side of his good arm and started crawling towards the forest. Or at least, he attempted to. It didn't work, his body couldn't keep up with the way it was.

Once again, Link knew he was done for, unless another miracle happened right now.

As blackness started creeping into his vision, Link cursed the giant Keese. 'Damn you, not even giving me a proper end. Going like this is pathetic. At least, at least I'm not hurting anymore.'


	2. The Dark Inside

A soft glow on his face caused Link to wake up from his slumber. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes. Quickly shutting them again as the light was brighter than expected.

Shielding his eyes with his hand, Link opened his eyes again, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

He let his other hand fall instinctively to his hip where his Sheikah Slate was to feel if it was still there. It was, good.

His eyes adjusted to the light and now Link could see where he was.

He was in a cave, the same cave he found yesterday after the hellish day. He saw the place where he had made the campfire, it had gone out by now, of course.

The light had come from the sun, which had begun climbing into the sky.

Link pushed himself of the ground, yawned and stretched his muscles.

He felt rested, despite the nasty dream he had.

The dream had involved finding an army of Keese in this very cave and ending up dying from the aftermath of a fight with a giant Keese.

Link briefly laughed at the absurdity of it. Like a bunch of bats would ever get the upper hand of him.

The dream, or nightmare, had felt extremely real. But if it was, then Link would have a large injure on his arm, which he hadn't. Not even a scar. Link checked, just in case. His arm is in top condition.

'Just a bad dream.'

It wasn't like it was the first one. Link frequently experienced horrible dreams, ever since waking up at the Shrine of Resurrection.

He gathered his equipment he had used for the night and pulled out his Sheikah Slate, looking for his next destination.

His plan was to take on the next Divine Beast, Vah Rudania on Death Mountain.

Scanning for the shortest route, he estimated that it would take approximately three days to get to the base of Death Mountain, unless he ran into unexpected trouble along the way.

Link exited the cave and began his journey. He was on high alert after the merciless assaults of yesterday.

But it turned out that it was completely unnecessary as the behaviour of the monsters he encountered on route was completely opposite. Most didn't even take notice as Link passed them.

It was a bit strange, but the hero welcomed the change.

There were a few battles, nothing Link couldn't easily handle. Because of this, Link was able to travel further than expected. He even managed to reach a stable before the sun started to sink behind the horizon. The stable called Wetland Stable.

Seeing that it would get dark soon, Link decided to stay the night at the small inn at the stable. It has been over a week since Link last slept in an actual bed.

He gladly paid for a place in a bed and before retiring for the night, Link made himself a generous and delicious meal at the cooking pot outside.

Link was in such a good mood he even shared some of his hunted meat with the stable staff and the stable dog.

The next morning Link woke groggily from his sleep. Despite sleeping in a soft bed, the hero hadn't slept well at all.

The entire night Link had turned and tossed in his sleep, not finding proper rest. Even though his sleep wasn't the best, Link was still in a good mood.

He gathered his equipment and resumed his journey.

Same like the day before, the monsters Link encountered took little to no interest in battling him. It feels like Link should be worried by this fact, but he wasn't.

As midday arrived, the sun shone brightly in the sky, not a cloud in sight.

Maybe it was because of the disturbed sleep, but the light of the sun hurt Link's eyes and brought on a slight headache. In fact, it became so much of a bother that Link went to find shelter.

He settled at the base of a trunk of a large oak tree.

As he sat down, the wind picked up and Link heard his name being called.

…Link…

It was so faint that he almost missed it. The voice was familiar, as Link heard it multiple times before, it belonged to Zelda.

He waited to hear what she had to tell him this time.

But nothing came.

That was strange. Link closed his eyes and listened carefully.

Nothing.

'Weird.' Link thought. 'Must have been the wind then.'

He shrugged and was convinced he was just hearing things at this point. Link deduced he needed some rest. A short nap never hurt anyone.

Link nestled himself between the tree's large roots, and once he was confident that he was mostly hidden from view, he closed his eyes.

It didn't take long before Link drifted to sleep. Opposite to his night's rest, this nap proved to be much better.

It was intended as a short rest, but when Link opened his eyes, the moon had started to climb into the sky. He had slept several hours, at least he felt rested now.

The night would bring more danger, as many more monsters tend to come out at night. Yet, with the behaviour that the monsters have been displaying the last two days, Link decided to move on instead of doing nothing.

It was weird. Normally Link would feel a distant unease when travelling at night. Yet, now it felt like the most comfortable and natural action to take at the moment.

After travelling for about two hours, some Keese found their way into Link's vision.

He shuddered at the sight of them, remembering the nightmare he had before.

And because of that, Link was NOT in the mood to deal with the three little brown bats. He silently wished they would just fly away.

By miracle, that exactly what happened. Link doesn't know why or how, but the Keese just flew away from Link, disappearing from sight.

Link watched in utter bewilderment as the bat-like creatures seemed to read his mind, and even more amazing, obeyed it.

The hero shrugged himself to sense and moved on, not wanting to spend anymore time just standing around.

Just like the previous days, the creatures of the night left Link alone. It was still strange, but he was beginning to get used to it, resulting in him letting his guard down a little.

As the sun started to make its way into the sky, Link arrived at the Foothill Stable, earlier than expected. It was raining slightly, so the suns rays didn't bother Link as much today.

Having travelled a long distance during the night, Link was tired and decided to get some rest in the stable before making he trek to Goron City.

He slept the day away and when he awoke nearing the evening, Link felt his body was heavier than usual. His movements were sluggish and the headache was back. His vision also seemed a bit blurry.

One of the stable's staff must have noticed as she approached the waking Hylian.

"You don't look very good, your colour's off. Are you alright?"

Link tried to wave her off, telling her he was fine with a wave of his hand, but the movement caused a wave of nausea instead.

"Oh, dear." The female Hylian went on. "I think it's better you stay in bed. I'll make you some chicken soup, how about it? I can't let you leave on my conscious like that."

Link couldn't even deny to himself that he wasn't sick anymore, so he considered his options. The decision was quickly made, however. How could he refuse free food?

He nodded and the friendly Hylian and lay back down.

"Alright, I'll be right back."

True to her word, the stable hand returned not much later with a steaming fresh bowl of chicken soup.

"Take your time. I'll let the owner know that you'll be staying a little while longer until you heal."

Link thanked her and was left alone to eat his meal.

'I'm not much use in this condition.' Link thought to himself. 'Of all the times to become ill. I better rest up before moving on.'

A few minutes after he lay back down in bed, he heard the whisper of his name again.

…Link…

Link listened intently to hear Zelda's voice. But just like last time, nothing came.

Once would be fine, but there has got to be something wrong if Zelda failed to reach the hero a second time.

Was Zelda getting weaker? Is that why he can't hear her?

If that's the case, then he shouldn't be wasting any time here!

Feeling distressed, Link threw the covers away from him and leapt out of bed. He took a step towards his gear, but didn't make it any further as, once more, blackness overtook his vision.

Slowly, Link opened his eyes again. He found himself laying on the bed in the stable.

Pulling himself up, he noticed he felt better than he could even remember.

Suddenly a female Hylian entered his field of vision. It was the same woman who had offered him the soup before.

"Thank the goddess you're awake. You gave us quite the fright, you know. Just fainting like that. We tried everything to get you to wake up again. You've been asleep for two days now!"

'Two days?!' Link thought to himself, horrified.

"We thought you were going to do from some unknown disease or something, with your skin looking so pale and all."

Confused by this statement, Link looked at his arms.

'What in the world?' He thought as he saw that his skin has turned into a sickly looking grey.

Instead of being horrified, like a normal Hylian, Link found himself being fascinated.

"Are you feeling alright?" The female Hylian continued. "Do you need anything? Do you know what happened to you?"

"Goddess, woman! Shut up!" Link surprised even himself with the sudden outburst.

"I'm sorry." He immediately said, even though he didn't really mean it. "I don't know what came over me."

The woman hesitated for a bit. "It's… alright. You're under stress. But, my question still stands. Do you need anything?"

'For you to leave me alone.' He thought to himself, but instead said. "No, I'm fine. I'm feeling a lot better."

"You sure? You don't look like it."

Link took a deep breath to calm himself down. This woman was really starting to get on his nerves. Never before had he felt so annoyed by another person before. He isn't quite sure where the anger comes from.

"Just tell me how much I owe you and I'll be on my way."

"You aren't in any condition to travel! Just look at you." She replied in a worried voice.

But to Link it sounded like yet another order from someone he doesn't know, and that was the last drop. An anger he never in his life he felt before surfaced.

"Argh! Just leave me alone! And get out of my face. Or you'll regret it. you have no idea what I'm capable off."

Link was too angry to notice he was threatening the other Hylian.

Startled, the woman jumped back, not sure how to respond.

"Is everything alright over here?" Came a familiar voice.

Once the woman saw who it was, she turned to him. "You told me you were his friend. Please deal with him."

"Of course!" Replied a cheery voice, which only added to Link's irritation.

The woman left and the newcomer addressed Link.

"Seems like you caused quite a bit of an uproar."

Not in any mood to deal with the energetic shopkeeper Link replied. "None of your business, Beetle. Get lost."

"Wow, this must be the first time I hear you speak. I must say, you seem much friendlier when you don't."

Link drew in another deep breath. He ignored the other male and started gathering his supplies.

Not fazed in the slightest, Beetle continued the conversation. "I heard you fell ill, so I came to visit to see what was up. Do you know you look really sick? You're as pale as a ghost!"

"Beetle, seriously, shut up!" Link said through gritted teeth.

"I could do that, but that won't help you. Or do you have like a headache? Should I whisper instead?" The shopkeeper said, ending the sentence in a whisper.

Link grabbed one of his swords and turned towards Beetle.

"H-Hey, now. No need for that. I can be quiet of that's what you want."

Beetle not so manly yelped as Link stepped towards him. But the hero didn't even look at him as he walked past him to go outside.

Recovering from the fright, Beetle quickly followed Link, who had already begun walking the path.

"H-Hey, wait up! Let me come with you. You can't be alone right now."

"I'm getting really sick," Link said in a dark, low voice. "of people telling me what to do!" He ended in a yell.

The pair had stopped walking and Link turned towards his companion. The latter who noticed that Link's eyes were giving off a slight red glow.

Remembering that time when those Keese seemed to do what he wanted, Link concentrated to see if he could do it again. He willed control over any nearby Keese.

While he did this, Beetle was still talking to him, but he couldn't be bothered to listen.

Suddenly, multiple flapping noises could be heard, nearing their location.

"Uhm, Link? We should turn back." Beetle said, seeing the danger approaching.

Link grinned. "Why? Afraid of some little bats?"

"Seriously, this is getting out of hand!"

"You know, Beetle. There's only one word I have left for you."

"W-Which is?" He asked, now scared.

Link looked him dead in the eye with a wicked grin. "Run."

Beetle took a step backwards. He didn't recognise the person who stands in front of him. Where did his friend go?

The Keese were almost there, so Beetle turned around and hauled ass back towards the stable.

Link laughed and as the swarm of Keese and Fire Keese arrived, he lifted up his hand. He pointed the swarm in the direction of the stable.

There the people were in a panicked rush. They could see the swarm approaching, and they were hastily trying to start a defence.

"That'll teach 'em." Link said darkly.

He watched as chaos erupted as the people were being attacked and parts of the stable caught fire.

'Serves them right.'

"Yess, indeed. Teach them a lesson."

The sudden voice startled Link. He quickly looked around, but he saw nobody.

"Who's there?!" Link demanded.

"I am… the one who gave you your freedom."

"What are you talking about? Where are you?"

"I'm talking inside your head, I'm not really there." The voice said.

"What do you mean, my freedom?"

"Poor Link. Waking up all alone with no memory, expected to perform a miracle. Do you even know they are telling the truth. And who do they think they are? They failed in their task and now they expect you to clean up their mess."

Link couldn't help but agree to what this stranger was saying.

"I couldn't watch any longer, seeing you suffer so much because of them. I've given you the power to break free from their hold, from your 'destiny', to do whatever you desire."

"What's the catch?" Link asks suspiciously, believing it too good to be true.

"The only thing you have to do, is pledge yourself to me. Do that, and you'll be free."

…Link…

"Free? How do you mean?"

"Free to do whatever you want. Free from this impossible task forcefully bestowed upon you. Free to live your own life. Free from these responsibilities."

…Link…

"You already have had a taste of what you could do under my care. No longer will you have to fear the monsters. Instead, you could rule them by my side. That is, of course, if that is what you want."

…Link!

Link shook his head, trying to be rid of this annoying voice trying to get his attention. Who did that voice belong to again?

"What do you say, Link? Do you accept? When the next Blood Moon happens, you can pledge yourself to me under the red light. Then your life will be your own."

"My life would be my own…" Link repeated, almost seeming like in a trance.

"Yess."

"I…"

LINK!

Shouted a voice, now clear as day.

"Do not believe his lies, Link! You have to fight it! If you give in to Ganon, he will destroy us all!"

'Zelda?' Link wondered, finally recognizing the voice. 'Wait, Ganon? Is that the one talking to me?'

"Look at what he made you do already!" Zelda's voice boomed.

Link looked towards the stable and was immediately horrified to see the innocent people and even worse, his friend, being under attack because of him. It seemed like they were only barely able to hold the flying monsters off. It wouldn't be long before they were going to be overtaken, though.

As if slapped in the face, Link snapped out of his daze. 'What was I thinking?'

"Link." The tempting voice grabbed his attention again. Only this time, its words didn't seem so promising. "Are you really going to let yourself be ordered around again? She's telling you what to do again. She's only using you for the power you wield. Remember when she shunned you for that very same power? She despised you, used you, and now still expects you to do what she failed to do. Just let it all go. Let me…"

"Shup up, Ganon." Link interrupted, no longer willing to hear the voice out. "I will not fall for your lies! Now, get out of my head!"

For a brief second, Link seemed to glow before something seemed to snap. His skin turned to normal, and the anger no longer plagued him like before. He regained control over himself.

"Link." Zelda's voice rung out again, now the only one he was able to hear.

"I'm sorry, Zelda. I failed you."

"The fault lies not with you, Link. Ganon will do anything to see you fail. It's not too late to repair the damage, Link." She replied, mentioning towards the people of the stable, who were still under attack.

Link nodded. "Thanks for watching over me."

"I will always be there."

And without another second too loose, Link drew his sword and charged towards the stable, intend on dispatching all the Keese he sent there.

He wasn't worried about winning that battle, he was worried about how he was going to apologize for his actions.

In the end, he was quickly forgiven, after explaining the whole story. Both by the stable people and by his friend, Beetle. The latter just happy to have his friend back.

But the knowledge of almost giving in to Ganon's will would be another scar Link would carry with him until he would finally destroy the beast once and for all.


End file.
